Vermont Battlefields

In addition to the war memorial in Bennington [1], two additional sites pay homage to Vermont’s [2] role in the Revolution, including one where actual fighting took place on Vermont soil. When colonial militias took over Fort Ticonderoga on the New York [3] side of Lake Champlain early in the Revolutionary War, they encountered a problem, since the fort had been built to fend off invasions from the south, and would be of little use in countering the anticipated British thrust from Canada.

They solved the problem by building a massive fortification on the Vermont side of the lake to defend against the northern attack. Named after the newly signed Declaration of Independence, they survive today as the Mount Independence State Historic Site (497 Mount Independence Rd., Orwell, 802/759-2412 or 802/948-2000, website [4], 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. daily late May–mid-Oct., $5 adults, free children under 15).

In the summer of 1776, more than 12,000 defenders lived here, making it the largest military city in the New World at the time. By the time of the British attack the following summer, however, they numbered less than 3,000, not enough to adequately defend both sides of the lake. The British surprised the Americans by scaling the heights of Mount Defiance on the New York side to command an invincible position over Fort Ti. Rather than face death or surrender, General Arthur St. Clair made the savvy decision to retreat to Mount Independence across a giant floating bridge in the dead of night on July 4, 1777, thereby saving the army to fight another day.

Today, a visitors center has exceptional exhibits of the life of the average colonial soldier during the Revolution, made up in part of artifacts found in archaeological digs on the site. Remains of some of the cannon batteries, blockhouses, barracks, and the hospital have survived, making Mount Independence one of the best-preserved Revolutionary sites in the country. Pick up a trail map at the visitors center. The longest route, the orange trail, takes about an hour round-trip.

Though the floating bridge connecting Mount Independence is long gone, you can still take the nearby Ticonderoga Ferry (4675 Rte. 74, Shoreham, 802/897-7999, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. May–late June and early Sept.–Oct., 8 a.m.–8 p.m. late June–early Sept., $8 cars, $1 pedestrians) across to New York to view Fort Ticonderoga [3] and hike to the cannon placements at the top of Mount Defiance.

The final Revolutionary site in the area is the Hubbardton Battlefield State Historic Site (5696 Monument Rd., 802/759-2412 or 802/273-2282, www.historicvermont.org/hubbardton [5], 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Thu.–Sun. late May–mid-Oct., $2 adults, free children under 15), which memorializes the field where the British, under General “Gentleman Johnnie” Burgoyne, caught up with St. Clair’s troops after they fled Mount Independence. Near the tiny hamlet of Hubbardton, a rear guard of more than 1,000 troops led by the Green Mountain Boys’ Colonel Seth Warner stayed back to delay the Redcoats, setting up defenses on a hilltop and repulsing repeated attacks.

The action, one of the most successful rear guard actions in history, headed off the British advance, as Burgoyne stayed behind for several days to bury dead and rest his troops, allowing St. Clair to escape with his men and eventually return victorious at the Battle of Saratoga. Today, the site includes a visitors center with relics of the battle, along with a three-dimensional map with fiber-optic lighting that takes visitors inside the heat of the engagement.